The breeder I just got my new IRN from has a baby alexandrine, 4weeks, that he said was from an unexpected clutch this year. I pretty much fell in love with the bird. My question is how well do they get along with IRN's? Are the alexandrine personalities and temperament similar to IRN's? And is $250 a good price? He is a very reputable breeder. He has some of the most amazing asiatic birds. Derbyans, plum heads, alexandrines, you name it. He has a pair of lutino alexandrines and blue alexandrines. I've never seen them before!!! Ok, lol, way off topic. Anyway, any insight would be much appreciated.

Hi. I consulted on this same question, and was generally given to believe it would be ok to keep one of each, in separate cages. My main concern was physical safety of the IRN if faced with the larger beak of the Alexandrine.

Do know that the two are sometimes bred together, so there must be at least some common ground for them!

$250 here in Maryland would be a very, very cheap price for an Alexandrine. It could be the breeder price (not the inflated pet store price) for a hand raised, tame green IRN. I believe the Alexandrine is reputed to be a tad more easy-going than the IRN. Probably would benefit from a slightly larger cage.

One more thought, if the clutch was unexpected, is the breeder sure of the parentage? This is to say, if he has mixed species in an aviary he was not planning to breed from, might this clutch be hybrids? Uncertain parentage or less desirable pairing might be one reason for a low price. Or maybe the breeder just likes you?

Thank you for your Input MissK and molossus...the unexpected breeding came from a late clutch. He was about to pull the box and noticed two eggs. One didn't make it. We've had an iffy breeding season this year here in Hawaii.

Wow MissK...$250 for a normal green?? I just paid $275 for my DF violet. He did say he was giving me a good price on the Alex because he felt we had a lot in common and I had just bought a bird from him. He is a very reputable breeder here in the islands. He chooses good homes and good breeding over making a lot of money. And he loves to experiment with mutations. I'm learning a lot from him.

I keep my birds housed separately for safety reasons...but they have adequate socialization with each other daily. Currently I only have male birds except for my sun conure. I prefer it that way. The Alex is also a DNA'd male.

I will have to give this a lot of consideration now. I will let you all know how it turns out. I never make my decisions lightly

Your Hawaii bird prices are very exciting! (How's the price of milk....?)

I housed my pair of Budgies together since the conventional thinking here is that Budgies need a friend. I like feeling I've done my part to make them happy, but even with these little Budgies, joined when young, I'm not so sure they even care. When I first put them together they both still had barring on the forehead, and they were seemingly happy to see each other. Now grown, I would like to see them snuggling together and sharing everything and generally being bonded little sweethearts. But they aren't. They're just two Budgies that live in the same big cage. Sometimes the male even flees the female, albeit in slow motion, and I wonder what's going on in there! I know she could catch him if she really wanted to, but she doesn't. I never intended to have a female, but the bird had a different plan when she grew up! Perhaps it is for the best that they are not sweethearts, as I don't want any babies.

This little scenario is a perfect example of why I'm holding out for the right second Ringneck for *ME*, and not just bringing home any bird to keep Rocky company.

I had budgies and zebra finches when I was a kid....many many moons ago. My budgies never cuddled or bonded. My finches, even though raised from hatch always hated each other. But my one budgie chipper would preen one of the finches and the finches would all crowd on one perch with chipper. I have an old Polaroid of it somewhere. Ill try to find it.

I wound up having two female finches that killed the one male finch, and then started attacking each other. Zebras are a vicious bunch. That is why I prefer male birds now.

There are many people on the east coast buying newly weaned IRN's right now. Give it until the end of the summer and you'll see an influx of people giving away "biters". Your perfect IRN could be in that bunch.

Well, that's the truth, if it even takes that long! I had a chat with the staff at the dog pound a decade or so ago, and they said the Christmas Puppies start rolling in by the first of the year!!!!!!!!!!!! (Note to anyone looking for a Puppy...)

For some reason there have been either a lot of people looking for IRNs in my tri-state area, or else a highly vocal few. I am going for a well-matured bird, though, so I'm going to have to keep my fingers crossed for somebody with an old one to get caught up in the bird selling buzz. Maybe there will be a well-treated retired breeder available. I kinda want to hold out for an Alexandrine, actually, but I'll know it when the right one, of whatever type, comes along.

Thanks for the tip! You know, I *live* on Craigslist, checking both the pet and regular sale sections from Virginia through Jersey. I even contacted a Rescue in Jersey letting them know to call me if they had to get a Ringneck out of Dodge in a hurry. I'm really picky, though, in my own way.

My criteria are essentially the bird must be male, at least 10 years old, healthy, no screaming or picking, and not so profoundly scared of humans as to be always in distress. If he's an IRN he should not be green like my Rocky ( and lutino's not my favourite, either). If he's Alexandrine he should be a little older, still. All things being equal, I would choose the bird who needed me, the one who could upgrade his situation by coming with me. The last deal breaker, though, is that the bird must be able to tolerate sharing a living room with Rocky.

I can take a biter, a breeder, a hider, a hater, a senior, a cusser - all OK with me. I can't tolerate a screamer, though, and a picker or cripple just makes me sad to look at, as well as those who are so scared you can't go near the cage. I am content to wait around till the right bird comes along, even if he never does. I do have a complete second set-up, though, so when I find the right bird things will be all ready to go. I can't have a bird shipped because I need to meet it first, and I don't really like shipping in concept.

I followed the same track when I was looking for Rocky. I looked at every ad for Ringnecks, called a few breeders, and passed on a lot of nice, young birds. When I found my bird I really think I hit a gold mine. He was in a tiny cage, eating just seeds, never coming out, not tame, and the family of his original (deceased) owner was just finished with keeping him around. I drove several hours to get him and overpaid for the privilege. BUT! What a bird I got! He didn't know anything about anything. He was just a big box of potential, waiting for somebody to open him up. To say the experience has been rewarding would be the understatement of the year. I'm not really wanting such a hard case again -I'm as lazy as the next guy- but I don't want to take the bird that has people standing in line to take him. That bird already has it made.

'Cause I'm a picker, I'm a grinnerI'm a lover and I'm a sinnerI play my music in the sun

I'm a joker, I'm a smokerI'm a midnight tokerI get my lovin' on the run

STEVE MILLER BAND - THE JOKER LYRICS

It was just the way you wrote it lol.

Anyway, I commend you for knowing what you want and being patient enough to wait for it. I did the rehab thing. And when I was done I thought to myself... I could have so much more fun with a clean slate. So I went for the baby this time. And I'm having a blast with him.

If everything goes as planned....my baby Alex will be coming home tomorrow with me. He is just about 6 weeks now and his pins are opening nicely. He's getting so big. I can't wait to finish hand feeding him myself. now for a name. What do you guys think of cyrano? As in Cyrano de Bergerac....

hmmm, today I found a video on youtube of an Alex named Cyrano talking... there were kids talking in the background... the id of the poster had something to do with the Jonas Brothers.... Is that your Cyrano?